Steam trap



' 1 618081 L. GRANDSTAFF STEAM TRAP Filed April 50, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheetl F /55 W. H m 'b 56 -A v 50 ,7 INVENTOR W WA.L.G84NDJMFF ATTORNEYS Feb; 15, 1927.

, I A. L. GRANDSTAFF STEAM TRAP 'Filed April 30. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVEItlTOR JLL. Grands'lig'f BY Q ATTORNEYS v WITNESSES ing the water of, condensation showing the same.

Patented Feb. 15, 1927'.

ALBERTL. GRANDS'TAEF, or AKRON, 01110.

STEAM TRAP.

Application filed April 30,

The invention relates to a steam trap of the type adapted for use in removing water ofvcondensation from a steam line, heaters,

engine drains, separators of compressed air' systems, and the like, or to a device for separating fluids of different specific graviti'es.

An object of the invention is theprovision of a trap having a valved outlet adapted when open to discharge a relatively large volume of fluid in a given time for a trap. of a given size.

Another object of the invention is the,

production of a ring type of discharge valve functioning in such a way as to give long service by reason of lts cont nually varying relation to its seat.

A further object-of the invention is tov increase the contact face of the valve and its seat from its outer seat periphery to the valve orifice so that arelatively greater 5 abrasive or cutting action of the valve and seatmust occur before leakage from the trap, the cutting action, through the valve being further minimized by means of a re volving ring valve that presents a new seating-surface to its seat at each operation.

The invention contemplates also a trap in which the valve operating mechanism is not directly associated, with the valve when the trap is not discharging and in which the valve operating mechanism must move a certain definite distance'before the valve is disturbed on its seat; as well as.a trap on which the entire weight of the float or receptacle is available for operating the. dis-v charge valve; a trap with few moving parts andrea dily accessible for repairs and a trap having a substantially spherical body or casadapting it to high pressures. Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forminga part of this specification, it being understood that the drawings are merely illustrative of one example of the invention. r V j Figure 1 is a plan view of a'steam trap embodying my invention with the cover-removed; I V

Figure 2 is a verticalsectional view showing the operating mechanism'with the valve in closed position Figure 3 is averticalsectional view of the vertically movable bucket or receptacle for and the valve mechanism with the stand --pipe associated with said receptacle and with the cover flange 21 is formed on stand pipe 15 with.

1925. Seria1No.1;05,850. C

forming an outlet passage, the casing and its coverv being omitted;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view showing a portion of'the ring valve in modified form, the section being taken on the line fir-4:, Figure 5; C Figure 5 is a cross sectional view of the modified ring valve on the line 5 5,"Fig-' Figure 6 1s a side elevation of a modified form of the valve seat;

' Figure 7 is a front elevation of the valve seat shown in Figure 6. v

In carrying out my invention in accor'd-. Q

ance with the example illustrated, a casing or hollow body 10 is provided, having a steaminlet 11 and an outlet 12 for the in-' termittent discharge of the water of condensation. The casing 10 is also provided with a drain opening 13 which is plugged in practice or provided with a drain'cock, not

shown. It is assumedthat the inlet 11 and the outlet 12 of'the trap are connected up for the draining of the condensation from a steam line or heating system. 7

The numeral leindicates a hollow bucketlike receptacle disposedin the body 10 and spaced therefrom so that when the steam has entered the body 11 and the steam condenses,

ltfloat'ing until it has reached the highest point permitted it and the water of con'' densation overflows tothe interior of the receptacle. V

-Vertically disposed within the receptacle 14; is a stand pipe 15 affording a discharge 115 which leads to a lateral passage 7 16 in the cover 17 of body 10, said lateral passage 16 in turn connecting with outlet 12 passage.

by a downward passage 18 complementary pipe 15 is held I 17 In the illustrated form a bolt holes 22 therein to "receive bolts 23', one of which is indicated in Figure 2'. c

of stand pipe'through the bore 24 of: a valve seat 25 screwed into'the said stand pipe 15 adjacent thelower endit will gradually rise, the receptacle The stand which in the preferred form of the invention,

'95 to said outlet-12. The cover'17 is secured in any suitable manner as by bolts 19 and nuts 20 to the top of the body 10.

in any suitable manner rigid A valve 26 is employed, .the ring forin 0t,

has particular advantages in producing a distinctive mode'of functioning in association with receptacle 14. Roller 27 extends transversely through the ring valve 2.6 so

that the valve is in contact with saidroller. A pin 28 passes through and mounts the roller, said pin having support adjacent its ends in two posts 29 rising from the bottom of receptacle 14 and held to said bottom in the illustrated example by the reduced end 30 of each post and nuts 31. Posts 29 with the rising and falling of receptacle 14 have guided movement in tubular standards 32 having vertical slots 33 through which the pin 28 of roller27 extends. Said tubular guides 32 are rigid with a lateral foot 34 on the stand pipe 15. Secured to the pin 28' are the side arms of a yoke 35, said side arms being connected by a cross bar 36. The

arrangement is such that the cross bar 36.

- limits the movement ofthe valve 26 ina ,the valve 26 is received.

1' indicates side flanges on the ring valve 26.

The valve designated 126 in Figures 4 and 5 may be made with flanges 137 laterally inward from the side edges or the valve and with peripheral zones 38 outside of said flanges. The inner sides of the flanges 137 are undercut as at 41 to accommodate the edges of a wear strip 39. Said strip 39 may be renewed by passing the renewal strip into a tangential slot '40 to the undercuts 41. i

The valve seat designated 'may, as shown in Figures 6 and 7, have flanges 42 on the seating end of the valve. Said flanges have curved end surfaces 43 and the adja cent end of the valve or seat proper isalso curve'd'as at 44. The two curves 43, 44 run into the same plane asat 45. Referring to the ring valve 126 and the provision thereon of the zones 38 in addition to the flanges 137, itwill be observed that said zones 38 have an outside radius exactly conforming to the seating radius of the ring valve. The zones 38 of the ring valve together with the height of the flanges 13'? at the line 45 result in a fulcrum beingprovided at said line 45 over which the valve 126 turns in opening; this precludes the possibilitv or" the seat edge wearing the seating face of the, ring valve. By having the zones 38 of the ring valve 126 fulcrum on the flanges 42 at the line 45,

there canebe no wearer abrasionbetween V the lower edge of the valve seat 44 and the seating face of the ring valve 126 at the strip 39. In other words, if the turning moment is centered on the line 45 and the zones 38 there can be no appreciable wear at the edge of seat 44 where it contacts with the strip 39. It also provides for variously locating the fulcrum point in different assemblages according to the varying results to be brought about regarding the period of operation of the valve. The face of the valve seat 25 in the preferred form is more or less oblong and the orifice 24 in the valve seat may be oblong, if desired. object of an oblong seat is to give a shorter weight arm or in other words, the distance from the lower edge of the seat to the center of the orifice can be varied by an oblong seat to give any power desired to open the valve;

this makes it possible to so'designthe seat proportions without reducing the'valvc ori-' fice area or increasing the power applied to the ring as to insure operation at their high pressure. I

The flanges 42 have two very definite purposes in view, that is to say, to constitute a guide in seating the ring valve 126 and pre vent its rocking too high on the seat and to constitute a fulcrum" point on which the zones 38 turn when the ring valve is opening.

The numeral 124 indicates the bore or passage through the valve seat 125. In operation, see'part icularly Figure 2, and assuming that the inlet 11 and outlet 12 are con nected up for draining the condensation from the steam line or heating system, the water of condensation or steann'orboth, flow through the inlet 11 into the interior of the casing 10 and float the receptacle 14. The

receptacle 14 in rising lifts the posts 29 and with them the bin 28 and roller 27." Thus, said roller 2? raises ring valve 26'. The receptacle 14 having reached its highest position. that is to say, against the font 34, water overflows into the receptacle until the receptacle is submerged. 'The receptacle 14 in descending, carries with 'it' the roller 27 and after said roller gains some momentum in its descent, said roller will contact with ring valve 26 at about the point indicated by the arrow in Figure 3. I

The impact resulting from the weight of the falling receptacle 14 instantly throws the ring valve 26 from its seat and the discharge or" the water from the receptacle 14 takes place through the bore 24 or 124 of the valve seat and the outlet passages 115, 16 and 18, and through the outlet 12." It is to be noted that the ring-valve 26 .is tightly held to its seat by the unbalanced pressure of water upon it. The ring valve 26is carried to the foot 34 and held thereto by the contact of the roller at a side of a vertical medial line drawn throu h the slots 33 as indicated by the vertical arrow in'Figure 2.

The general llll ' The roller127 in holding the ring valve.

26'to foot 34 does'n'ot arrest the descending receptacle 14, said receptacle being arrested by contact of the roller pin '28 with the bottom of the slots 33 in the guides 32.

Hence, the receptacle 14 may still descend after the valve 26 contacts'with the foot 34 at the point indicated by the'arrow in Figarea; The roller 27 during the-further de pin 28 contacts with the bottoms of the slots 33. The discharge of the water through the outlet 12 upon unseat-ing of the valve 26 continues until the water in the receptacle yoke 35 has lt together with that flowing into said receptacle reaches a level just above the plane of the valve seat, that is to say, above the point of discharge 111 where the water enters the casing 10 from the inlet 11, see Figure The water in the casing 10 after the trap is in operation is always higher than the point of discharge 111 into the casing as indicated in Figure 2.

As the receptacle 1e rises in response to the accumulation of water in casing 10, roller 27 will lift the valve ring from the foot 3 1 and the cross bar 36 willstrike the peripheral flanges 37 of the ring valve and tend to impart, a movement of said ring valve toward its seat 25. In each opening and closing movement of the valve ring 26, a new peripheral surface thereof will be presented to the valve seat 25.

It is not intended in practice that the roller'27 or the cross bar 36 should contact with the'valve ring. 26 when said valve is closed. Inthis connection it will be noted that there is a boss 46 on each post '29 at the base thereof adjacent the bottom of the receptacle 14:. Said boss 46 by contact with the foot 3 1 limits the upward movement of said receptacle and therefore limits the upward movement of roller 27 and yoke '35.

before the ring valve 26 is seated. Hence, the ring valve has a slight movement under the pressure of water and against its seat 25 after the upward movement of roller 27 and been arrested. Thus, the ring valve 26 in 1ts closed positionis out of contact with roller 27 and cross bar 36.

. I would state, furthermore, that while the illustrated example constitutes a practical embodiment of my invention, I do not limit myself strictly to the. exact details herein illustrated, since, manifestly, the

same can be considerably varied without dearture from the spirit of the invention as v defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a steam trap, a casing having an in- ,let and anoutlet, a receptaclein' said casing adapted to rise and fall therein,said recep tacle in communication at its top with'the' interior ofthe casing for a liquid to overflow into the receptacle from p the 1 casing, outlet means to conduct liquid from the interior of the receptacle near the bottom to the outlet ofthe casing,,a valve seat atzthe entrance of said means, a ring valve adapted to move to and from said seat, and valve actuating means carried by said receptacle to rise and fall therewith and adapted to en-. gage said valve to unseat the same and to move the valve toward the seating position. 2. In a steam trap, a casing having an in-. let and an outlet, a receptacle in said cas-.

ing adapted to. rise and fall therein, said receptacle in communication at its top with the interior of the casing fora liquid to overflow into the receptacle from the casing, outlet means to conduct liquid from the interior of the receptacle near the bottom to the outlet of the casing, a valve seat at the entrance of said means, a ring valve adapted to move'to and from said seat, and valve actuating means carried by said receptacle to rise and fall therewith and adapted to engage said valve to unseat the same and to move the valve toward the seat ing position, said valve being capable of limited movement independent of the valve receptacle near the bottom of said outlet, a 10 I valve seat at the entrance of said means, a ring valve movable to and from said valve seat, upright means movable upand down with the rise and fall'of the receptacle, and

a transverse roller movable with said upright means and extending through the ring valve to engagethe same for unseating the valve and giving a movement of the valve toward its seating position.

4. In a steam trap, a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a receptacle in said casing adapted to rise and fall therein, said receptacle in communication at its top with the interior of the casing'for a liquid to overflow into the receptacle from the casing, means affording a flow of liquid from said receptacle near the bottom of said outlet, a valve seat at the entrance of saidmeahs, a ring valve movable to and from said valve seat, upright means movable upand down with the rise and fall of the receptacle, and a transverse roller movable with said upright means and extending through the ring valve to engage the same for unseating the valve and giving a movement of the valve toward cross bar disposed outside of the ring valve. 5. In a steam -trap,'a caslnghaving an inlet and an outlet for liquid, a receptacle in said casing and adapted to rise and fall therein, means permitting a flow of fluid from said receptacle to said outlet, a ring valve controlling the How of fluid to said means, and means to unseat said valve and to move the valve toward the seating position and operable with the rise and fall of the receptacle, said last mentioned means in the movement thereof to open the Valve having an initial movement free and independent' of the valve so "as to act on the valve only after the said last mentioned means has gained momentum in its descent.

6.- A steam trap including a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a receptacle in said casing and adapted to rise and fall therein, a valve seat having anoblong bore permitting a flow of Water therethrough from said receptacle, means for directing the Water passing through said valve seat toward said outlet, a ring valve adapted to move bodily toward and from sa1dseat,'and means to actuate said valve and move the same bodily. ALBERT L. GRANDSTAFF. 7 

